Information about Work Experience

Work experience is the experience that a person has working, or working in a specific field or occupation.

The phrase is sometimes used to mean a type of volunteer work that is commonly intended for young people — often students — to get a feel for professional working environments. This usage is common in the United Kingdom (the American equivalent is intern). Though the placements are usually unpaid, travel and food expenses are sometimes covered, and at the end of the appointment, a character reference is usually provided. The trainee usually has the opportunity to network and make contacts among the working personnel, and put themselves forward for any forthcoming opportunities for paid work.

However, in competitive freelance industries, the demand for placements can often be overwhelming. Though many people have professionally benefited from this type of experience, it’s advisable for persons to consider the financial implications of a placement — there is a gentlemen’s agreement that it should never last more than one month — and how exactly they would get their effort's worth once it’s over in the correct give and take relationship.

Work experience is offered on the national curriculum for students in Year 10 in the United Kingdom (4th year in Scotland) and Australia. If a student fails to find a placement then they may sometimes be forced to attend school everyday aiding the caretaker, or helping out elsewhere in the school, such as with language departments or with ICT technicians. Recent regulations restricted the availability of locations as students are not prohibited from working at a company outside the conurbation of the city or abroad. Safety checks on the companies are now more thorough and students who arrange placements at failed companies are forced to find a new placement. Students are not permitted from working at companies with an employee count below 5 due to insurance problems. This often ruled out small shops which were run by the student's relatives or friends. It is not banned for the employee to pay the student however it is not encouraged. These regulations do not apply to people who take work experience when it is not compulsory.

Many employers in the more sought after professions (eg TV, politics, journalism) demand that every new entrant undergo a period of unpaid "work experience" before being able to get paid work. In most cases this is, in effect, "experience through work" and as such is, if unpaid, contrary to the Minimum Wage regulations. Such is the demand for this kind of work that very few complain about this and so the practice continues.

At University level, Work Experience is often offered between the second and final years of a undergraduate degree course, especially in the science, engineering and computing fields. Courses of this nature are often called sandwich courses, with the work experience year itself known as the sandwich year. During this time, the students on work placement have the oppertunity to use the skills and knowledge gained in their first two years, and see how they are applied to real world problems. This then can offer then useful insights for their final year and prepares them for the job market once their course has finished. Some companies also have the means to sponsor students in their final year at University with the promise of a job at the end of the course. This can act as an incentive for the student to perform well during the placement as helps with two otherwise unwelcome stresses: the lack of money in the final year, and finding a job for when the University course completes.

See also

• Intern
• Cooperative education

External links

• Ikando work experience in Africa
• Article about finding and making the most of work experience
• BigWee - Work Experience Exchange for young people aged 14 - 19
• - Career Development Internship Program
• What are sandwich courses?